Sunday, December 6, 2009
Nevada Poll: Fewer back health reform
President Barack Obama has lost ground in the last month in getting Nevadans to embrace his health care reform package and, for the first time, opposition is above 50 percent and support is below 40 percent, a new poll commissioned by the Las Vegas Review-Journal reveals.
The telephone poll of 625 registered voters found that 53 percent of Nevadans oppose the president's attempt to provide a remedy for problems in the nation's health care system. Support for the plan is at 39 percent.
[...] Coker said the poll results aren't good news for U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., chief architect of the Obama supported plan. Only 39 percent of the poll respondents approve of Reid's efforts to get a bill through the U.S. Senate at a time when he's running for re-election.
SOURCE: Las Vegas Review-Journal
The telephone poll of 625 registered voters found that 53 percent of Nevadans oppose the president's attempt to provide a remedy for problems in the nation's health care system. Support for the plan is at 39 percent.
[...] Coker said the poll results aren't good news for U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., chief architect of the Obama supported plan. Only 39 percent of the poll respondents approve of Reid's efforts to get a bill through the U.S. Senate at a time when he's running for re-election.
SOURCE: Las Vegas Review-Journal
Deals cut with health groups may be at peril
Heading into a make-or-break week, Senate Democratic leaders are struggling to preserve the fragile support of interest groups for an overhaul of the nation's health-care system, even as lawmakers seek to change the carefully crafted provisions that brought the groups on board.
On the floor and behind closed doors, the Senate wrestled Saturday with amendments that would impose additional cost-control requirements on hospitals, doctors and drug companies, squeezing out savings beyond the considerable sums those groups had already volunteered to give up.
Of particular concern to seniors groups is an effort to strengthen a new independent board that would determine the future of Medicare, raising the possibility of cuts much deeper than those envisioned in the $848 billion health-care bill.
President Obama is scheduled to visit the Capitol on Sunday to rally Democrats to overcome lingering disputes, including the major flashpoints of abortion and a government-run insurance option. But other unresolved issues that have attracted less public attention pose a direct threat to deals cut by the White House months ago to appease the American Hospital Association, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and other industry groups whose opposition proved lethal to President Bill Clinton's 1994 quest for health-care reform.
On the floor and behind closed doors, the Senate wrestled Saturday with amendments that would impose additional cost-control requirements on hospitals, doctors and drug companies, squeezing out savings beyond the considerable sums those groups had already volunteered to give up.
Of particular concern to seniors groups is an effort to strengthen a new independent board that would determine the future of Medicare, raising the possibility of cuts much deeper than those envisioned in the $848 billion health-care bill.
President Obama is scheduled to visit the Capitol on Sunday to rally Democrats to overcome lingering disputes, including the major flashpoints of abortion and a government-run insurance option. But other unresolved issues that have attracted less public attention pose a direct threat to deals cut by the White House months ago to appease the American Hospital Association, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and other industry groups whose opposition proved lethal to President Bill Clinton's 1994 quest for health-care reform.
- Hospital, drug concerns
- AARP vs. the board
Obama heads to Hill to push on health bill
President Barack Obama is paying a rare visit to Capitol Hill to urge Senate Democrats forward as they work through the weekend to try to resolve their differences on his sweeping health care overhaul.
The president's planned appearance at a Senate Democratic caucus meeting Sunday afternoon answers appeals from a number of lawmakers eager for him to step in and help Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., finish the job.
"That is what the president is supposed to do, to use his bully pulpit," said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. Until now, "I haven't seen much of it," Harkin said Saturday.
Obama and Reid must unite liberals and moderates in the 60-member caucus, even as moderates balk over abortion and a proposal for the government to sell health insurance in competition with the private market. Sixty is the precise number needed to overcome Republican stalling tactics in the 100-member Senate, so Reid doesn't have a vote to spare.
SOURCE: Associated Press > Yahoo News
The president's planned appearance at a Senate Democratic caucus meeting Sunday afternoon answers appeals from a number of lawmakers eager for him to step in and help Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., finish the job.
"That is what the president is supposed to do, to use his bully pulpit," said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. Until now, "I haven't seen much of it," Harkin said Saturday.
Obama and Reid must unite liberals and moderates in the 60-member caucus, even as moderates balk over abortion and a proposal for the government to sell health insurance in competition with the private market. Sixty is the precise number needed to overcome Republican stalling tactics in the 100-member Senate, so Reid doesn't have a vote to spare.
SOURCE: Associated Press > Yahoo News
Health care reform contains tax increases hidden in plain sight
To pay for health care reform, you’ll find billions of dollars in tax increases tucked inside the two major bills now before Congress – with each taking a vastly different approach to who ends up paying.
Will it be the wealthiest among us, as proposed by the House bill, which levies a 5.4 percent income tax surcharge on those earning more than $500,000 a year?
Or might it be a broad swath of the middle class, hit by an array of tax code changes on medical expenses and taxes levied on insurance policies, drug manufacturers and others in the health industry, which say they’ll pass these costs on to consumers?
The final outcome may be parts of both approaches – but any way you cut it, someone will be paying higher taxes to support the costs of reform. Those costs include subsidies for some families to help them buy health insurance, starting in 2013 or 2014, and expanded government coverage for some.
Here’s a quick look at the tax proposals in each of the major bills...
SOURCE: The Missoulian
Will it be the wealthiest among us, as proposed by the House bill, which levies a 5.4 percent income tax surcharge on those earning more than $500,000 a year?
Or might it be a broad swath of the middle class, hit by an array of tax code changes on medical expenses and taxes levied on insurance policies, drug manufacturers and others in the health industry, which say they’ll pass these costs on to consumers?
The final outcome may be parts of both approaches – but any way you cut it, someone will be paying higher taxes to support the costs of reform. Those costs include subsidies for some families to help them buy health insurance, starting in 2013 or 2014, and expanded government coverage for some.
Here’s a quick look at the tax proposals in each of the major bills...
SOURCE: The Missoulian
Weekend work: Senate debates health care
Majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) warned his colleagues they will meet for as long as is necessary to pass health reform by the end of the year.
The Republicans do not plan to make it easy on them.
Among the big sticking points:
SOURCE: NECN Politics
The Republicans do not plan to make it easy on them.
Among the big sticking points:
- Whether health reform would mean government funding for abortion.
- Whether the final plan will include a government run "public option."
- Whether health reform would come at the expense of seniors, who rely on Medicare.
SOURCE: NECN Politics
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